The Magister Imperium
by BloodRavenFan
Summary: Humanity isn't nearly as weak as the universe likes to think. And when Humans get angry...[ON HIATUS - SEE PROFILE]
1. The Magister Imperium

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

The Magister Imperium

The young woman danced as she flew through the poisonous air, softly singing a beautiful yet terrible song that would have captivated most four-dimensional life forms. If they understood even the smallest fraction of the words of the song, it would either horrify them, drive them insane, or it would inspire them to follow her kind's example. As she sang and danced, her bladed staff whirled in a precise and elegant pattern, blue lightning lashing out from its tip and reducing winged monsters flying towards her with murderous purpose to their component atoms.

The planet's atmosphere was toxic sulphur dioxide laced with nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide. For those who came from Midgard the Golden, it would normally have meant death to breathe even the smallest whiff of the planet's air. It didn't matter. Not to her. Not to her kind.

She sang and danced her words and motions a performance that slowly but subtly altered the vibrations of the quantum superstring that formed the foundation of all existence. It was funny really; ironically those who were now imprisoned for all eternity in the Valley of Penitent Souls were actually correct in their goal. The only things that were wrong were their methods.

She had visited the Valley once, and heard the mournful and insane wails and shrieks from the stasis tombs that lined the walls. She had seen the grime-caked, bone-thin and anorexic figures within the tombs, prevented from dying by the techno-sorcery of Human Tech-Sorcerers, yet bound to witness against their will the glory of the Magister Imperium for all eternity. It served them right; the Magi had sought to drive Humanity back to the pre-Industrial Era to restore the fading power of Thaumaturgy. Humanity fought back, but had been defeated. The primacy of Thaumaturgy was restored…or so they thought; for while the greater part of Humanity had been driven back into the Dark Ages, many had also escaped into space.

Not all Magi had supported their kind. These had fled to space as well, and had been rewarded for their loyalty, and now stood triumphant within the Inner Circles of the Magisterium. They had been the ones who had revealed to the first Tech-Sorcerers the true implications of the quantum superstring, that which their kind in their savage and superstitious beliefs had called 'Akasha'. The Tech-Sorcerers had used technology to pursue the same goal, and finally succeeded after a thousand years. And then came the Great Betrayal – the Will of Humanity, 'Alaya' had sent its agents to prevent the Tech-Sorcerers from completing their Great Work.

But it availed it not; nigh-indestructible quantum shielding had prevented the so-called 'Counter-Guardians' from damaging the World Engine, and using its power the Tech-Sorcerers had transcended the space-borne Humans from a four-dimensional life form to a six-dimensional life form, allowing them to escape to a parallel realm where Alaya did not exist. And there the Great Work was finally completed, and Humanity transcended all of existence by becoming ten-dimensional life forms.

In triumph they Magister Imperium had returned to their home world, where the descendants of the Magi who had exiled them were humbled and judged. Gaia itself was broken and remade to suit Humanity, while Alaya ceased to exist – after all, what need had a fully-transcendent race for a guardian collective? The Dead Apostles were also been broken at Humanity's knee, and were imprisoned as well within the Valley of Penitent Souls. Most ignominious of all was the fate of the savage and primitive White Dog of Gaia, slain by the then-Imperial Archon's own hand even as the Great Song had reached its crescendo, remaking Gaia and heralding the birth of Midgard the Golden, resplendent with its silver towers and crystalline pyramids.

Once, she too had been considered an enemy of the Human race. Once, she could have been among their greatest banes. No longer; she had accepted their offer, sundering herself from her long-dead kin and freeing herself of their curse, free to dance and sing amidst the endless stars.

As the clouds parted, she saw her enemy; a mighty and indescribable figure that towered into the planet's upper atmosphere, surrounded by winged monstrosities and causing reality itself to fray by its sheer presence. The mere sight of the being would have driven all but other Ultimate Ones to insanity, the heat pouring from it would have reduced all but the densest and heaviest metals to slag, but her…she was a ten-dimensional life form. To her an Ultimate One was no different from the lowliest bacterium. She continued to dance, her song shifting to match, the limiters placed on her physical form being released in sequence one after another to bring her true form and power into play.

The Ultimate One reached out with an arm at impossible speeds, seeking to crush her with its unbreakable grip, only to scream in agony as her staff ripped its hand and arm to nothing. Her song rose in crescendo, reality itself now bending to her will to provide a counter-point to her song, her eyes beginning to glow with power as lines of power began to appear across her body. Finally, with a triumphant note as of countless trumpets and voices that echoed across all of time and space, she exposed her indescribably beautiful and terrible true form and unleashed her full power even as her staff found the heart of the monster that stood before her. The Ultimate One screamed as it ceased to exist, its voice echoing across its universe. In the past it would have summoned the other Ultimate Ones to destroy the aggressor, but now it served only to make them tremble in fear and impotent hate.

Blinding sheets of light and energy blasted outwards from her, the quantum superstring responding to her will and shifting ever so slightly, remaking reality as per her command. As she replaced her limiters and restored her physical form, she breathed in and smiled as the scent of the sea filled her nostrils. She floated down from the pristine blue skies and landed on the cool waters of the sea, running her hand through her blonde hair. Red eyes looked out over white shores and the green hills behind, all under the light of the morning sun. She was Arcueid Brunestud, former Princess of the True Ancestors, and formerly the last of the True Ancestors. No longer; now she was a Human, a Tech-Sorceress and a Magister of the Imperium, and she smiled in satisfaction. Another world remade in the image of Midgard the Golden, Home World of Humanity the Eternal…all was as it should be.

A/N

Not sure if I'll update or not, but still, tell me what you think about it.


	2. Wishes

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

Wishes

Arcueid sighed as she sat back on her throne in her Temple Ship, forged of crystallized thought and realized illusion, an ethereal design of silvered metal and glass that sailed the invisible paths between the stars. Of course, she could just phase out back to Midgard in an instant…but that was too easy. Boring, one might even say. Instead, she leisurely travelled back to the heart of the Infinite Empire, her physical form sleeping on its throne even as her mind traversed the cosmos freely.

Infinite…eternal…all things have a beginning and an end, if not for Humanity's power. With the power of their songs they had ensured all of existence would not die, whether by heat death or gravitational collapse. It was an eternal task, managing the vibrations of the quantum superstring to ensure a perfect balance of rebirth and destruction, even as they remade worlds in Midgard's image, in the hope that someday, another race would appear and follow their path and join their voices with Humanity to sing of victory everlasting.

After what seemed like an eternity, she opened her eyes and beheld the blue and pure orb of Midgard the Golden, Home World of Humanity the Eternal, and Crown World of the Infinite Empire. With a thought she phased out down to the surface, her Temple Ship ceasing to exist with a thought, just as she could easily bring it back into existence with another thought. She walked down the streets of the Inevitable City, past green and verdant parks set between shining pyramids of marble, silver, and diamond, colonnades and galleries of gold and glass, and the towering pillars and towers of silvered metal.

Immortality had changed Humanity, purging it of much of its base desires and carnal impulses. Most Humans spent their lives in quiet contemplation and study, seeking answers to metaphysical and logical questions that would have driven other life forms to insanity. Yet for all that, Humanity retained its love for paradoxes. The greatest paradox of all was their preference to retain physical form majority of the time, even if doing so limited their power and imposed a need to regularly partake of nutrition.

Then again, if they went about in their true forms all the time, interaction with the rest of existence would be all but impossible, given as a Magister-level Human without its limiters could only be described (by lesser beings) as a supernova in constant burn. And while it was…primitive, Arcueid (and all Humans) didn't want to give up physical pleasures entirely. Food and drink, while capable of being created out of nothing with a few words (or in the case of Magisters with a mere thought), was best partaken at one's own pace to savour every drop and morsel. Humanity also possessed a wide streak of vanity and pride, with most Humans preferring to wear fantastic attires adorned with brilliant gemstones and precious metals.

Arcueid's walk down the Grand Corridor leading to the Tower of Light was interrupted when several children ran out of a side street, happily shouting and playing with each other. She watched them cavort on the main road before running towards a nearby park. Children…with immortality and eternal youth, Humans now had no real need to procreate. They still did of course, but Humanity now viewed sexual activity solely as an act of profound love and affection meant to create a new generation and nothing less. She wanted a child, but she still hadn't found her Eternal Pair…and without him, she could not have a child.

Sighing, she turned her back on the children – who by this point had been joined by a winged tiger with pure white wings – and continued on her way to the Tower.

* * *

"Good work, Arcueid." The Magister serving as the System Administrator told her. The two of them were standing by the shimmering pillar of light that was the mainframe of the Trans-Dimensional Operating System: Yggdrasil. Up and down the pillar, translucent and circular platforms hung in the air with individual Humans serving as System Operators floating in personal gravity fields handling glowing holographic interfaces overseeing the operations of the cosmos. Other Humans floated around the Tower's interior; the Tower was actually larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside, a product of multi-dimensional architecture and engineering. "Are you sure you don't want a break? I mean you've been cavorting around the cosmos for, well, a long time now. Wouldn't you want some time off on your own?"

"I'll be fine." She told him, waving off his concerns with a smile. "Don't you have anything for me to do?"

"Hmm…" the Systems Administrator thought for a moment, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "...alright, I've got one job for you if you think you're up to it."

"And that is?"

"Wish-granting…"

* * *

Several wishes across several parallel timelines later on, Arcueid was beginning to find herself exasperated by her new job. Officially, the job had a good basis: those who performed it were supposed to go grant wishes to people across the cosmos whose whole lives had been ruined and left miserable by the Ancient Enemies: Magi (save for those who had atoned for their sins and the sins of their ancestors by assisting in the Great Work), True Ancestors and Dead Apostles (she had been pardoned due to her resistance to the Crimson Moon that had once been in her), and the others of their ilk.

However the wishes took the form of means to gain petty vengeance. This proved surprisingly annoying, as she remembered those imprisoned within the Valley of Penitent Souls. That was different though, as that had been an act of swift and just retribution for their crimes. Petty vengeance, however, was indescribably crude and primitive no matter its reasoning, far below high Human civilization. Such a base concept had since been abandoned by her kind.

Still, a job was a job, and she had every intention of finishing her quota of wishes granted. And so she found herself reclining in her personal gravity field as she looked down from the sky on the battlefield below her. "_The Fourth Holy Grail War…_" she thought dismissively. "_...what a joke. For people who supposedly seek the truth behind all of creation, those idiots are blind to what's right in front of their eyes._" Holographic screens appeared around her, detailing information on the beings fighting on the ground. "_Gilgamesh, a pathetic little man-child with an ego the size of a universe…oh how I would love to give this guy the squeeze. Next, we have Queen Altria, a self-indulgent girl who wallows in self-pity and condemnation. Diarmuid…hmm, well I can't say anything bad about this guy. Alexander…Eternity, this guy is a King in every sense of the word. Lancelot…he's the same as his mistress. Let's see, what else we've got…Tokiomi Tohsaka, what a prick. Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern…now that's just sad. Kayneth…well, he's also a prick, but not as much as Tokiomi – that man needs to see a therapist ASAP, and the same goes for that fake priest he keeps as a pet. Waver Velvet…maybe when he grows up…Kariya Matou…ah, very interesting. I think I have my target._"

* * *

"Won't you tell me, your wish that is?"

Kariya Matou looked over his shoulder at the woman standing behind him. She wore a white, collared, navy-style blouse over a white skirt that reached down to her knees. The collars and cuffs of her blouse had red patches with gold embroidery of stylized wings, while a flowing mantle hung over her shoulders with golden epaulets on its shoulders. In one hand she carried a bladed staff, forged of silvered metal with glowing blades that hurt the very eyes just to look upon.

"My wishes, huh?" he chuckled, before coughing up blackened blood. "Funny…no one told me about the spirit of the Grail ever coming to check on the Masters."

"If you wish to think of me as that, then so be it." Arcueid responded with a shrug. "But you didn't answer my question: what is your wish?"

"Sakura…" Kariya wheezed, coughing up more blood. "…I want Sakura…to be free. Aoi…Rin…those bastards Zouken and Tokiomi must pay!"

"Normally only one wish may be granted…" Arcueid said, looking at her fingernails. "…but you're the first person I've ever granted a wish to that doesn't involve petty vengeance or desires. You would sacrifice your own self for the sake of others…therefore, may your wishes be granted…"

She extended her hand, pale in the moonlight. Kariya, still believing her to be the spirit of the Grail hesitantly reached out and grabbed it. And in an instant, a brilliant pillar of light shot up to the heavens, as their agreement triggered Yggdrasil to alter reality itself…and then Kariya found himself blinking and looking around him in amazement. He felt…fine. His body unharmed by Zouken's familiars. And he was standing in the park, and in the distance he saw them: Rin and Sakura happily playing with each other under the watchful gaze of their mother.

Shocked, he took a step towards them when a voice caught his attention. "Your wishes have been granted." Turning, he saw Arcueid sitting under a nearby tree and eating an apple. "The girl is free…and that woman, well, if you want her as well you've to work for it."

"What about…Zouken and Tokiomi?" he asked. Arcueid smiled cruelly before she snapped a finger…and Kariya found himself standing in a cold and dry valley echoing with hopeless wails and insane screams.

"Kariya…!" Tokiomi screamed, slamming his emaciated fists against the quantum shields of his stasis tomb. "You did this didn't you, you bastard! I'll kill you!"

"Kariya…" Zouken said, crawling closer to the quantum shields of his tomb and making Kariya recoil in horror. Zouken's body was that of a rotting corpse, ridden with maggots and vile with rot. "…I see…you made an agreement with powers more terrible than any others…I am proud Kariya. Perhaps you're not such a weakling as I thought you were."

"Kariya…!" Tokiomi shrieked. "Stay away from them! Damn you Kariya!"

"Shut your mouth Tokiomi." Kariya spat. "Tohsaka is in ruins. I won't let your legacy ruin Rin or Sakura's lives…or for that matter, Aoi's life as well. The only thing I regret is that your blood runs in their veins. But I can let that go, because unlike you…I'm Human."

"Indeed you are." Arcueid agreed. Walking up to the man's side, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go Human, and leave this place. Live, and be free."

"Will he see?"

"Oh yes, he will see. He will see life flower in his absence, for like most of his kind, he is a cancer, a walking disease on the race of Men."

Kariya nodded, and without a backward glance, left the Valley of Penitent Souls while ignoring the impotent curses coming from behind him. In spite of his torment, Zouken smiled as he heard Tokiomi's insane shrieks from the adjacent tomb, knowing not knowing how that Kariya had renewed his romance with Aoi, and that in the end, Rin and Sakura would know Kariya, and not Tokiomi, as their father. Yes, Kariya turned out to be better than he expected, and that was enough for him.

* * *

A/N

So, what do you think?

Before any of you ask, yeah ten-dimensional Humans are strictly monogamous. And yes, they resemble the Gods of Ah! My Goddess, just without their tattoos and counterparts (there are only Humans).


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